The plan approved by the corps calls for a camp roughly half the size of the one proposed by the Muslim Youth Camps of America.

Still, those who envision a place for youth to play and learn about Islam in a natural setting see a victory.

"We are extremely pleased with the Army Corps' decision," Jalel Aossey, a Muslim Youth Camps of America board member, said Tuesday.

The group's original proposal called for a 17,500-square-foot conference center, 10 cabins, a caretaker's residence and a 36-foot-high prayer tower.

Corps officials are ready to start lease negotiations with the group as soon as a scaled-down proposal has been submitted and reviewed.

The federal agency anticipates it would allow about 60 campers and staff members per day for 10 weeks during the summer, with intermittent recreational and educational use by up to 1,500 others during the rest of the year.

Aossey said the requirement for a scaled-down proposal is acceptable to his group. "It would be viable if we had only 10 children who could come at one time," he said.

The Army Corps of Engineers owns the 106 acres along the shores of Coralville Lake near North Liberty, Iowa, where the proposed $2 million camp would be built. Until 1990, the federal agency leased the heavily wooded tract to the Girl Scouts for $1 a year.

Since then, the narrow strip of land that runs along a reservoir has sat vacant.

Aossey doubts any major construction will take place this year, but he'd like to see a small group of children start using the area for tent camping this summer. "That would be great to see," he said.

Lynne Kinney, who lives about 500 feet from the proposed camp, said she would rather see the land left open for public use but is pleased to see size restrictions on the proposed camp.

Kinney said she expects neighbors will continue to oppose a prayer tower on the site.